Special ops soldiers hear profiles of bin Laden, terrorism
by Spc. Kyle J. Cosner
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Army News Service, Oct. 22, 2002) -- Perhaps best known for their work in combat zones, Army special operations soldiers spent some time in a school zone Oct. 7 during a renowned psychologist's presentation about global terrorism, Osama bin Laden and effective ways to defeat them both.
Dr. Jerrold M. Post spoke about the implications of terrorism to special operations students studying the Middle East at Fort Bragg, N.C.'s U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School during his presentation, "Killing In The Name of God: Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda and Radical Islamist Terrorism."
Post is the director of the Political Psychology program at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a noted author.
Post detailed the definition and history of terrorism and stressed the importance of understanding its causes -- in this case, leaders like bin Laden who promote violent Islamist extremism.
"You really can't understand this destructive movement without understanding its leader," he said, "(and) in many ways, the leader is the creation of (his) followers."
In the late 1970s, Post helped developed profiles of Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat for then-President Jimmy Carter.
Acclaimed for his groundbreaking studies in terrorist psychology, Post characterized bin Laden not as a madman, but a sane and calculating leader obsessed with the misguided and extremist teachings of radical Muslim clerics.
Maj. Ken Gordon, officer-in-charge of the Regional Studies Detachment at 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne), asked Post to visit Fort Bragg to address special operations students in the Middle Eastern portion of the Regional Studies Course.
"Dr. Post was chosen because of his expertise in his field -- his topics addressed salient issues pertinent to the course," Gordon said. "It better prepared the students for their potential future work with the civilian communities in the Middle East."
During his presentation, Post portrayed bin Laden as a hypocrite, who uses a peace-loving religion like Islam for his goals of death and destruction -- all while posing as a pious spiritual leader.
To make his point, Post read from portions of Al Qaeda documents believed to have been penned by bin Laden, in which he issued fatwas - rulings given only by Muslim religious leaders.
"This is blasphemy, as he is talking as a prophet," Post said.
"(Bin Laden) is a self-egrandizing distorter of the Koran," he said, because the Muslim holy book teaches that believers should "fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for God loves not the transgressor."
He said bin Laden came into power by misrepresenting passages within the Koran and characterizing Western nations like the United States as dangerous enemies to young, impressionable Muslims. These young followers were then able to spread bin Laden's hard-line views throughout Muslim nations, meeting with great success in places like Afghanistan, Post said.
Post spoke to soldiers about the importance of understanding the psychology of terrorist combatants, and why he feels U.S. psychological operations may ultimately defeat the threat of global terrorism with a powerful weapon -- the truth.
"Strategic psychological operations are important (for countering terrorism)," Post said. "How (else) do we delegitimize Osama bin Laden as someone who corrupts Islam?"
Gordon said Post's inclusion of psychological operations in his presentation was especially pertinent to the audience.
"Many of (my soldiers) may find themselves deployed to the Middle East in the not too distant future as either psychological operations or civil affairs operators or planners," Gordon said.
Post said that in his opinion, the key to eradicating terrorist threats from extremist Muslims is a sophisticated, lasting PSYOP campaign that effects long-range changes within the Islamic world.
"One of the psychological operations...objectives is to attempt to modify the behavior and attitudes of a foreign target audience in support of U.S. foreign policy objectives," Gordon said after the speech. "You have to understand the culture and worldview of the target audience in order to do that well. Dr. Post's presentation gave the students a better understanding of (where to start)."
Although he didn't speculate much about bin Laden's current whereabouts, Post said that in the end, it didn't matter.
"If bin Laden is killed or captured, leadership will pass seamlessly to (other Al Qaeda leaders)," Post said.
He downplayed the symbolic importance of bin Laden, and said he believed it would be better policy for the U.S. to concentrate on getting rid of the root causes of extremist Islamist terrorism instead of fighting a never-ending battle with the small Al Qaeda cells identified in 68 countries around the world.
"This is a war of hearts and minds," said Post.
Gordon agreed.
"One of our objectives at the Regional Studies Course is to teach about foreign cultures so that (soldiers) can be more effective at their jobs," he said.
Post also voiced criticism for members of the international media who assist terrorists in spreading their message to the public quickly and with little editorial review of the message's connotations.
"When the media is competing with other media outlets to get the message out there, they are doing the terrorists' job for them," Post said. "World opinion is (terrorists') audience. They care very much (about it)."
Though optimistic about the chances of destroying the Al Qaeda threat, Post highlighted the difficulty of ultimately defeating terrorism and speculated that it may never be fully suppressed.
He explained that active dissention is an important part of democracy and can be difficult to prevent from turning to violence - a bleak prospect for Americans who value a free society.
"You can't (fully) defeat terrorism without defeating democracy," he said.
Whether it's here to stay or not, Post said the current war on terrorism is not new or unique to the 21st century.
"(The war on terror) is ... a war that's been going on since the Garden of Eden in many ways," he said. "(Terrorism) is a very complicated species of political violence."
(Editor's note: Spc. Kyle J. Cosner is assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office.)
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